MLB.com's Jane Lee blogs about the Oakland A's

Watching the clock …

The A’s now have less than five hours to decide whether to tender contracts to their 10 arbitration-eligible players. The top non-tender candidates: Jack Cust, Travis Buck, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Edwin Encarnacion. Much of these decisions will depend on the club’s attitude toward their ability to sign Adrian Beltre and Lance Berkman, both of whom are strongly being pursued by the A’s. Adam Dunn was said to be in that mix at the beginning of the day, but his name has been wiped off the board with several reports confirming he’s headed to the Chicago White Sox. That takes away the offseason’s biggest power threat, but Dunn’s contract is expected to be near the total amount of the cost of Beltre and Berkman combined — the latter who is looking for a one- or two-year deal that could be worth around $12-14 million total. If the A’s happen to land both players, which would be quite the feat, they are all but guaranteed to nontender Cust and either Kouzmanoff or Encarnacion. The official deadline for these decisions is 9 p.m. PT.

Stay tuned.

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I knew it. I knew it I knew it I knew it. Encarnacion is here. Encarnacion is gone. Took 20 days, but it eventually happened. It’s like he just came here for the sole purpose of givin’ me a frikkin’ sign about that HR ball of his I got and what it meant to me. I know I should feel crazy just for reading into this and describing it that way, but I don’t. Add it onto everything else before and after, and it’s another freaky thing that I can’t ignore. I know nobody gets this but me and maybe one other person, but if anybody else were in my shoes, they’d be saying the exact same thing. I just wonder what’s next. Like really, what is it? I’m dying to know.

It’s funny. As eye-opening and as life-changing as this 2010 A’s season was for me… it’s gotten even more interesting AFTER the season has ended. I didn’t think it possible. I’m not on the Iron Horse trail making a video anymore, I can barely get back to work on the one that I WAS making shortly before I got the reason to stop (because my conscience won’t let me go on with it). But even now that I’m not working on anything, it’s still happening. Freaky stuff. Freaky stuff.

I got it. Alex Rios. I’m making a prediction right now. If the 2010 A’s season… and all associated “signs” continues as it has been for me…. then somehow, someway, the A’s are going to find a way to get linked to Alex Rios. I don’t know how. I don’t know anything about his contract with the White Sox. But I do know this:

It was HIS foul ball… that I missed… after it came down from the 2nd deck… that got that “certain person” to see me go for it, throw my glove in frustration when I missed it, and think that I was actually trying HARD to get that ball. That SET UP my fear next time for what that “certain person” would think if “he or she” had seen me get the Encarnacion HR ball, put it in my pocket, and throw the dummy ball back onto the field like I did. That’s why I was so afraid when I got ejected the first time for that, because I knew that that person had seen me on the Rios foul ball, so I was terrified of what they would say about me getting the Encarnacion ball. If it hadn’t been for the Rios foul ball… then I wouldn’t have been afraid…. I wouldn’t have told that person about it the next time I saw them…. and I wouldn’t have then looked at them differently (and gotten more and more attracted to them) from that day forward.

So…. what it all boils down to is this: Alex Rios. If the A’s get him…. if there is any news about him on the A’s site whatsoever…. if they so much as even BREATHE in his direction…. then I will know that something’s up. I will know that I’m not crazy. I will know that something…. something up there…. is in fact…… DRAWING ME TO THIS PERSON.

I can’t stand this. At first it was thrilling because I honestly thought there was something there between us, and that’s what drove me, but now… I just feel like I’m being screwed with. And there’s nothing I can do. So let’s see. Let’s see if something else freaky happens. My prediction: Alex Rios. It’s all I can come up with. I’m not looking anymore. I’m just gonna mind my own business, try to get my mind off “Zdeno Chara” for once… and see if ONE MORE freaky… ***… coincidence… happens.

It has been reported we have dropped out of the Adrian Beltre race. I hope he ends up regretting turning us down. No proven track record except during contract years. How about Carl Crawford? He would be the perfect fit into our outfield. It would allow us to rotate our injury prone outfielders into the DH spot giving their legs regular rest. Lets make Carl Crawford the first 100 million dollar man in the A’s organization. If not Paul Konerko for the DH spot granted he declines arbitration. If we do not get either of these two the offseason will be considered a failure unless Beane nabs a top power hitter via a trade. Prince Fielder?

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